FM P Chidambaram castigated corporate honchos and asked why none of them came forward to provide jobs to physically challenged persons despite a host of incentives announced in the Budget.

Providing rationale of shift in focus of the Budget '07-08 from his 'dream' Budget of '97-98, he said the task before him in his earlier stint was to pull India out from her cocoon.

Concerned at 'sizable' excise duty evasion, Finance Minister P Chidambaram today warned that tax evasion would come to "haunt" corporates in the long run.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram favoured withdrawal of most tax exemptions in future except for those given to promote R&D, knowledge areas and for the welfare of senior citizens.

RJD congratulated its leader and Railways Minister Lalu Prasad for taking "bold and visionary steps".

Analysts say RBI will probably continue to tighten policy over the next few months, either through higher interest rates or quantitatively, to rein in rising prices in the economy.

Corporate India, which was quick to dub Budget 2007-08 as 'bad' in TV polls described the financial bill as bold and brilliant in a snap poll called by none other than P Chidambaram.

Economists have expressed disappointment with Finance Minister P Chidambaram and said they had expected bold measures from him in the Budget to curb inflation and unemployment.

Describing the Indian Budget as a bold one, Hinduja has said it would help achieve the ultimate objective of poverty alleviation and raise the income levels of rural households.

The Budget lays a roadmap through which India's economic growth can fructify. But it conveniently missed out the needs of the laptop 'n iPod generation.

The government's move to tax software services firms more would hit their growth, NASSCOM said on Wednesday, with shares in leading companies falling on investor disappointment.

The Budget has good news for women, enhancing I-T relief for them even as gender budgeting continued to be given importance with an outlay of Rs 8,795 cr made for 100% women-specific schemes.

Telecom subscribers have little to look forward to in the Budget as the high-growth sector barely got a mention in FM's speech, but the companies may see a simplified tax structure soon.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram was not in his usual form on Wednesday. The zing was missing in his budget speech made in the backdrop of the drubbing the Congress party received at the hustings in Punjab and Uttarakhand.

P Chidambaram added to their burden by raising education cess from two to three pc. Corporates, who will now effectively pay a tax of 33 per cent, were expecting up to three pc relief.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram's Budget Speech as presented in the Parliament.

Government announced stepping up of its expenses by nearly Rs 100,000 crore, thus budgeting for a total expenditure of Rs 680,521 crore to meet social sector commitments as also enhanced defence needs.

Senior BJP leader LK Advani dubbed General Budget proposals as a "betrayal of aam admi", saying it showed the Congress had learnt no lessons from its electoral defeat in Punjab and Uttarakhand.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram proposed to extend the service tax regime while unveiling a move to double the exemption limit for small service providers to Rs 8 lakh.

The Union Budget for 2007-08 drew flak from ruling UPA's friends and foes alike who dubbed it as anti-farmer, anti-common man and listless. The Left attacked the government for 'ignoring' their suggestions.

Strongly supporting the campaign 'say no to tobacco,' FM P Chidambaram increased excise duty on cigarettes and bidis and gave no relief to pan masala containing tobacco.

While taxpayers are disappointed at PC's proposal of a marginal increase in threshold tax exemption limit, India Inc feels a 'wrong signal' has been sent to the corp world.

The rural job guarantee scheme will be extended to 130 more districts during 2007-08, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said on Wednesday.

Chidambaram's budget failed to cheer some of the government's allies, while the opposition was predictably peeved as it felt not much has been done to contain rising prices.

A new tax proposed on Indian software services exporters in the annual budget for the fiscal beginning in April should be scrapped, said a senior official at Wipro Wednesday.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram's budget failed to cheer some of the government's allies, while the opposition was predictably peeved as it felt not much has been done to contain rising prices.

Excise duty on pan masala not containing tobacco will be reduced from 66 per cent to 45 per cent, Finance Minister P Chidambaram told the Lok Sabha.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the government was toying with the idea of utilising foreign exchange reserves for infrastructure development. He said discussions with the RBI are on in this regard.

Petrol and diesel prices will not be reduced as a result of an excise duty cut on auto fuels.

As the FM unveiled the Union Budget for 2007-2008, here's a list of products that will now be affordable. Also presenting things on which you might feel some real pinch.

Continuing its drive to modernise armed forces, the government hiked the Defence Budget for 2007-08 to Rs 96,000 crore over the current fiscal's outlay.

Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram presented the Budget for 2007-08 to parliament on Wednesday. Get all the highlights of the Budget right here.

The Finance Minister said he would use tax revenue generated by a booming economy to raise spending on health, education and the flagging farm sector.

Promises, promises. And not all made by the FM in last Budget have been kept. Will the new fiscal year be any different or will the govt be busy in shedding the past burden?

Behind the headlines of 'Shining India' are worries that growth is failing to trickle down to the poor and the Govt is concerned that rising inflation rate is making people poorer.

Slow evacuation of cargo coupled with poor hinterland connectivity has undermined the efficacy of ports, the Economic Survey says.

Sustained investor interest will keep alive the buoyancy in stock market, which peaked to 14,724 pts this month, helping India catch up with mature markets in terms of market capitalisation to GDP ratio.

In the face of high inflation, the Economic Survey asked the government to use subsidies as a policy for correcting market failures that had led to unabated rise in prices of food articles.

India can boast of being among the top nations in terms of savings, which shot up to 32.4% of GDP, but government or public savings declined to make a 'negative contribution'.

India needs a massive $320 billion to be invested in infrastructure over the next 5 years and the requirements could be met through insurance and pension funds, the Survey suggested.

Following are the highlights of the Economic Survey 2006-07 presented by Finance Minister P Chidamabaram in Parliament on Tuesday:

In the face of high inflation, the Economic Survey asked the government to use subsidies as a policy for correcting market failures that had led to unabated rise in prices of food articles.

Concerned over high unemployment despite the economy expanding rapidly, the Economic Survey asked the govt to tap into the manufacturing sector for creating more jobs.

The Union budget is expected to focus on rationalisation of spending and taxes. It'll also have to keep high growth on track and at the same time bring rising prices under control.

Lalu Yadav, speaking in Parliament at the start of his Rail Budget presentation for 2007/08, said the Railways made a 200 billion rupee ($4.5 billion) profit for fiscal year 2006/07.

Sharing concern over rising prices particularly food articles, Prez Kalam said Govt would take all steps to check inflation while ensuring job-oriented 9% growth during 11th plan.

With the Government exploring various options to attract long-term funds for infrastructure, savings in certain categories up to Rs 1.3-1.5 lakh a year may qualify for income tax exemption in the coming Budget against Rs 1 lakh currently.

The main Opposition BJP sought strong measures to control inflation and a revision of fringe-benefit taxes in its charter of demand for the 2007-08 budget.

Corporates are expected to breathe a bit easy as statutory tax rates on them are likely to be reduced by three per cent in the Budget 2007-08.

Services like legal, medical, sports, education, entertainment, performance of Bollywood actors and other artistes may also come under the tax net, if the states agree to impose tax on these services.

With the increasing number of private vehicles posing a threat to the environment, the Centre for Science and Environment has asked govt to raise taxes on cars in the forthcoming Union Budget.

President APJ Abdul Kalam's address to the joint sitting of Parliament at the start of the three-month long Budget session beginning February 23 was approved by the Union Cabinet.

PM Manmohan Singh has promised to consider the demand of some cooperative banks for removal of the 33% income tax on their profits, a measure that was imposed in the 2006-07 budget.

The government is likely to substantially raise budgetary support for the health sector from about Rs 12,000 crore provided in 2006-07 Budget.

The Government is unlikely to introduce a health cess in the coming Budget to provide health coverage to the BPL families, despite pressure from some political quarters within the UPA.

Industry body Assocham said a merger and acquisition policy should be incorporated in the forthcoming budget to facilitate India Inc's acquisitions on global turf.